Before - Legends Where Faith Is--A Qui-Gon/OC Jemmiah Chronicles long story--Author's note, 9/21

What an uncooperative bunch...


Boy break my heart Ish -- I finally get caught up and I'm nearly in tears!!!

Great job!

 

K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku--Nicely done, although I must say I was looking forward to the adventures of another disaster duo. Poor Leona...not only does she have to be stubborn with another "colleague", but she has to do it while reliving some of the past. This kind of stuff happening in RL is part of the reason I'm on the bench side instead of the clinical side of research.

Li's second Padawan, Reme, is definitely up for disaster duo adventures. Yeah, I don't envy Leona's memories. Interesting.

Jemmiah--Imagine anyone not trusting An-Paj! Even if they aren't fond of the Jedi! Good for Leona for mostly keeping her calm. The pained thoughts of her daughter were really touching. I especially loved the no-nonsence and practical way in which she managed to get the attention the case deserved by calmly and rationally explaining the differences in the medical tests.

Li doesn't trust An-Paj. It's almost unthinkable, because I like old bluebutt a lot more than Dr. Dayton, my surgeon last year. I'm glad you liked the thoughts of Karina and I thought Leona's tacit nature would be a good way for her to be the one to deal with RIDI idiots.

mouse2--Finally, they were making some progress.

Yeah! Once the Infectious Disease person shut up long enough so Leona could tell her what happened! Grrrr! I hate people like that!

I felt so sorry for Leona when she was thinking about her daughter.

I really did hate that character, even though it's the cameo from hell for probably a very nice mother of five who likes to crochet but happened to be snagged by Ish's plot bunny.

 

Layren--What an uncooperative bunch...

Boy break my heart Ish -- I finally get caught up and I'm nearly in tears!!!

Great job!

Sorry, hon. I don't mean to do these things... I just assume that my readers have tough skin. THen again, maybe it's a very weepy day, since I was listening to a favorite CD and started bawling in the middle of "He Is" by Hilary Weeks.

 

Krikey!

Poor everyone!!


Some Padawan using rat poison on another Temple brat..."

AH! Foreshadowing/hindsight!! (can't tell where this fits chronologically).


Good job, Ish.

 

This is a year before TPM, so 2 years after Urior. And yes, poor everybody.

 

It was bad form for a Jedi Healer to stomp about, but Leona was sorely tempted to let her boot heels do the complaining as she stalked through the corridor leading to the Healer's Wing.

Since it was dinnertime, this area of the Temple was virtually deserted. This was probably a blessing to everyone involved, since she could reflect on the day's events without too many interruptions and without running the risk of offending another Jedi. Dimallie would be retrieving the food for the patients from the kitchens, so that at least gave Leona enough time to get settled into her chair, elbows propped on either side of the keyboard, head in hands.

It was Healer Inkerson's day off, so there were no tortured screams coming from the east side. An-Paj could be heard, listing off symptoms as a high-pitched female voice responded impatiently that yes, she had all of those, so could she get treated, already? Simeon was humming jocundly and rattling around the supply cabinet...

And she was left in her office with a massive headache and a highly unsatisfactory word in the forefront of her mind.

Inconclusive.

After an hour of waiting, two hours of arguing symptoms with the RIDI representative, and another four hours of working carefully with the analysis droids at the Index, that was the best they could come with.

Inconclusive.

One Padawan dead already and who knew how many more were simply in the incubation period? How many were dutifully taking their vitamins and getting their innoculations while their body turned against them with every passing breath?

Inconclusive.

Liara Khe probably didn't think there was anything inconclusive about the case. There was nothing vague about the fact that her Padawan had bled to death without a single shot being fired or a single laceration on her her small arms. There was nothing inconclusive about the way that she had gone from mildly sniffling to deceased in a matter of hours.

Inconclusive.

Inconclusive.

Inconclusive.

The word was becoming an obscenity every time Leona thought about it.

"You look highly pleased with your efforts at the RIDI," An-Paj interrupted her thoughts.

"A lesser Healer would give you a concussion with your own datapad," she growled, not looking up, "but I am unfortunately not a lesser Healer."

"And besides," he teased, "Jemmiah would tell you that inflicting concussions is Dimallie's job."

That normally would have elicited a smile from her, but she was too disgusted with the present state of things to even crack a smile. That was apparently enough incentive for An-Paj to take a more personal interest, since she heard, in order, a profound sigh, the hiss of the door closing, and his grunt as he lowered himself into the visitor?s chair across the desk.

?Inconclusive?? he guessed.

She nodded. ?Any more information??

Another sigh. ?You don?t want to hear it??

?How many??

?Two thirteen-year-old girls were brought in just after you left,? he explained, ?a pair of best friends.?

She nodded, then lifted her head from the hollow of her hand to find his skin paled to an unnatural grey color. ?And how long ago did they die??

?We managed to slow the process,? he recited, ?so that the bleeding stopped for a time, but then, our efforts proved futile. The first one succumbed two hours ago, the second an hour after that.?

She nodded absently, letting her hands drop to the desktop. ?One thing is not inconclusive,? she suggested.

?Which is??

?It has something to do with the inoculations.?

An-Paj nodded grimly, but more telling was the drooping of one antenna. ?I?ve postponed all of the remaining inoculation sessions,? he informed her. ?I recognized just after you?d left that the three girls might have caught the disease because their immune system was already weakened in order to accustom themselves to the inoculations.?

?Exactly,? she agreed. ?The trouble is that, if we dispensed the disease with the vaccinations, we have already infected sixty-two Padawans and their Masters.?

Just t

 

*Delurks*

Just popping my head above the parapet to say I'm reading this! I just haven't time at the moment to do anything but try and keep up with posts once in a while, but hopefully things will ease a little for me soon and I'll have more time to reply.

*Lurks again*

 

Personally if I was Leona I would have come back missing one of my boots. I would have left it with that RIDI woman and she wouldn't have been doing any sitting any time soon.

Oh no! Two more? Hmmmm... All females and all padawans too. I have a feeling that this is a big clue that they're missing.

Great post Ish!

 

Calamity Jinn--*Delurks*

Just popping my head above the parapet to say I'm reading this! I just haven't time at the moment to do anything but try and keep up with posts once in a while, but hopefully things will ease a little for me soon and I'll have more time to reply.

*Lurks again*

Welcome, Calam! Glad to see you're here and thanks for reading.

mouse2--Personally if I was Leona I would have come back missing one of my boots. I would have left it with that RIDI woman and she wouldn't have been doing any sitting any time soon.

Yeah, that's about how I'd feel, but I credit Leona with more class than that.

Oh no! Two more? Hmmmm... All females and all padawans too. I have a feeling that this is a big clue that they're missing.

Possibly or possibly not. It's kinda a clue, but indirectly.

Great post Ish!

Thanks.

 

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww this just keeps getting deeper and deeper.... more and more people dying...yipes..

 

LOL, you expected any different from me?

 

Oops, I forgot to update the title line.

 

I'll be updating this in the early morning.

 

Ya know, I've heard that you liked killing people in fics...

I didn't really believe them until now.

Awww... poor Leona! How frustrating this must be for her!

Good job, Ish!

 

Very interesting. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Ever the geneticist, I'm running through everything I know about X-linked disease that might or might not be influenced by the onset of puberty...or sliding down the hand rail. I'm a bit surprised that the RIDI folks didn't send a team over ala "Medical Investigation"...only then they'd be from the Republic's basic research arm and not the infectious disease people...All I can say is as a former employee of the NIH "Where's MY helicopter?" OK, neither here nor there and probably more than you wanted to know.

Has anyone ever referred to you as the Typhoid Mary of fanfic? You show up and the characters start falling like flies...
-K'Tai

 

Miana Kenobi--Ya know, I've heard that you liked killing people in fics...

I didn't really believe them until now.

Wait! I can explain! No, not really... Okay, so I took this plot bunny when it was offered because I love medical mysteries, always have. It had nothing to do with the fact that I could make all these adorable characters, then watch them diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie! Okay, I should edit that squeal of happiness out. Dang, you've found me out!

Awww... poor Leona! How frustrating this must be for her!

Good job, Ish!

Yeah, it's very frustrating most likely. Thanks.

K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku--Very interesting. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Ever the geneticist, I'm running through everything I know about X-linked disease that might or might not be influenced by the onset of puberty...or sliding down the hand rail. I'm a bit surprised that the RIDI folks didn't send a team over ala "Medical Investigation"...only then they'd be from the Republic's basic research arm and not the infectious disease people...All I can say is as a former employee of the NIH "Where's MY helicopter?" OK, neither here nor there and probably more than you wanted to know.

LOL. Darn, people who think about these things. I thought I could wing it. "Yeah, it's snuffleufagusitis brought on by toomuchcranberryjuiceacoma..." Yeah, RIDI is going to be one of those "too little, too late" things.

Has anyone ever referred to you as the Typhoid Mary of fanfic? You show up and the characters start falling like flies...

Okay, that's it, I think I'm going to make that a permanent part of my sig.

 

I will be updating this tomorrow before I go to bed.

 

Will be posting on this today, but my sithly computer ate my post.

 

"And besides," he teased, "Jemmiah would tell you that inflicting concussions is Dimallie's job."

ROFLOL!!! How true is that! Can't wait for the next part, Ish! Computers can indeed be sithly! Grrr!

 

Computers can be sithly, especially when you've been working on anything for a long time.

 

It's been a crazy few days and I might not post on this until tomorrow or Sunday.

 

Sorry to hear that Ish! I'm really looking forward to the next post, but I'm willing to wait!

 

Thanks, Mouse. I'm hoping to get some done on sunday morning.

 

"May the Force be with us all."

At the traditional benediction, the assembled Jedi bowed, then began leaving, one or two at a time or in groups. Some, the friends of those who had fallen, lingered longer or simply fled for their lives, afraid of leaving their hearts behind with those who had been placed on the pyre.

Leona remained, not because she had known the Padawans well or by assignment, but because being here was almost a form of repentance. She could not make amends for medical failure and being here certainly did not lift her spirits, but there was a sense of obligation that brought her to see what would be the fate of others if she did not succeed in her current duties.

"We have our first male."

She did not turn to see who had spoken, but tucked her hands further into the folds of her robes as if that would ward off the chill that ran through her at those words.

"I hope you don't expect me to cheer," she informed An-Paj. "My heart just isn't in it."

"I don't expect that," he assured.

She turned away from the pyre, making her way through the thinning crowd to a more secluded spot in a corner of the garden. An-Paj followed, taking the seat next to hers.

"Thirteen," he summarized quietly. "Came in for his vaccinations the same day as the others, shared several of the same classes with all of the deceased."

"Yes," she said impatiently, "we've been over all of this."

"You haven't asked about his forty-three-year-old Master that died with him," he countered.

That caught her attention.

"That's more than a variation," she breathed. "It's either a mutation..."

"Or it's evidence of something else," he agreed. "I thought you'd want to know."

"Indeed," she replied. "Was she menopausal?"

He nodded. "You think it's something to do with hormones?"

"The hormones are not the cause," she surmised, "but I'd be willing to wager that the hormones induce susceptibility. That would explain why only the Padawans old enough to be entering puberty are being affected..."

"And the only adult casualty is menopausal," he finished.

Her eyes ran over the crowd as her mind automatically screened the vulnerable Jedi.

"If we don't find a cure for this quickly," she observed grimly, "eighty percent of those here won't see their next birthday."

His hand squeezed hers briefly, drawing her gaze back to him. His antennae were drooping and his smile was appropriately grim, but there was something like wary triumph in his eyes.

"Which is why the Council has given permission for you to take this on as a special assignment."

"Me," she spluttered, yanking her hand away. "Who came up with that bright idea?"

"The same Healer who remembered that this is not the first plague you've dealt with," he reminded gently. "The same one who trusts your instinct more than his own."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she snapped. "This should be handled by someone with more experience..."

"Eighty percent," he echoed. "Are you going to chance that by arguing the point for the rest of the year?"

She probably hadn't genuinely hated him since she was twelve and resentful of his constant corrections, but she was coming pretty close at the moment.

"That's not fair," she stated.

"No, it's not," he responded with a sigh, "but it's not fair to them, either."

Her eyes returned to the crowd. Sixty percent of the people here might die with their Padawan braids intact and he was placing the choice in her hands.

"All right," she conceded.

"Good. You and Master Jinn leave tomorrow morning."

She eyed him warily. "Qui-Gon?!"

"You can't go unaccompanied," An-Paj reasoned, one antenna twitching in amusement, "and other than the fact that he's Master to the galaxy's largest medical file, he's had experience with this sort of thing. He will be there mostly for your protection."

That's what I'm worried about.

"A disease, then," she mused, "that is stimulated by the body's natural urges?"

"It would appear so."

She smiled for the first time

 

What a cracking last line! Poor Dex, indeed! Ah, I could understand Leona's frustration, knowing that so many lives now rest in her hand. LOL at her reaction when told Qui-Gon would be going with her. She does have a challenge ahead, considering how many people will die if she doesn't find a cure.

Well done, Ish.